REQUEST A SPEAKER

We provide a variety of FREE presentations to educate community members and groups on mental health. We provide education on youth or adult mental health, as well as nationally and internationally researched suicide prevention trainings.

For more information or to schedule a presentation, contact Clare Rosser, [email protected].

General Mental Health Presentations:

A general overview of local services, resources, and learning opportunities

Suicide Prevention Education:

These community education options require NO PRIOR knowledge or experience with mental health topics.

You can choose from 3 different programs that vary in length and intensity:

QPR (1.5 hours)QPR, which stands for Question Persuade Refer, teaches people to recognize suicide communications and actions, intervene safely and confidently, and connect the person in need to the right help. Short, simple training. Audience requirement for onsite training: less than 30 registrants.

School or Youth Presentations:

Youth Mental Health First Aid (8-hour training for people who live or work with children or teens)

Other trainings upon request

Meet Our Speakers

Holly Cundiff, M Ed, LPCC-S, LCDC III

Holly Cundiff, Forensic and Special Projects Coordinator for the Lorain County Board of Mental Health, has a Master of Education in Counseling from Kent State University. Holly has over 20 years working in the fields of community mental health, corrections and chemical dependency. She has worked in a variety of settings ranging from jails, community mental health agencies, hospitals, and a county mental health board. She utilizes Cognitive behavioral therapies along with motivational and brief solution focused models. Her expertise lies in working with Severe Mentally Ill Adults and their families, couples counseling, chemical dependency counseling, and public speaking. Holly is a certified Mental Health First Aid facilitator in both Adult and Youth.

Heather Distin, PCC-S

Lorain County’s Intersystem Program Director, Heather Distin has over 10 years of experience in the mental health field providing individual, group, and family therapy to children, adolescents, and their parents. Heather is a nationally certified Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapist and has special interest in advocating for trauma-informed care across systems. Heather has presented on various mental health topics to diverse populations, including educators, juvenile court officials, and mental health clinicians.

Kathleen Kern, Ph.D.

Kathleen Kern, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist who serves as the Executive Director for the Lorain County Board of Mental Health. Dr. Kern has over fifteen years of experience assessing and treating children and adolescents with a wide range of behavioral and mental health concerns. Her graduate research focused on evaluating and treating adolescents in residential placement. It was through this experience that she learned of the sometimes ignored contribution that trauma plays on the development and exacerbation of childhood mental health symptoms. In her study, which focused on the identification of ADHD symptoms in an at-risk population, Dr. Kern learned that the children in this unique sample who were identified with behavioral and learning disorders almost uniformly had a history of physical or sexual abuse. Dr. Kern first applied this knowledge to the treatment of youth who had been dually diagnosed with substance abuse and mental health disorders in Connecticut. Subsequently, she accepted a position as Clinical Director of residential treatment program in New York, where she trained clinicians and staff on the diagnostic issues that face children with a history of abuse and neglect. In May of 2005, Dr. Kern moved to Ohio to begin a Child and Adolescent Clinical Services Program at the Nord Center in Lorain County. She joined the staff of the Board as the Child and Adolescent Services Director in 2007, was appointed Associate Director of the Board in 2013, and Executive Director in 2017.

Child Psychologist, licensed in New York and Ohio
Member Ohio Psychological Association
Ph.D. Magna Cum Laude, The University of Toledo, Toledo, OH

Dawn Kroh, LISW, LCDC III

Dawn Kroh is employed by Firelands Counseling & Recovery Services of Lorain County as a Site Director. She is a Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW) with supervisory status and a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor III. Her education includes a bachelor of arts in psychology and a masters in social work. Her work experience includes mental health and alcohol and drug treatment with adults, families, adolescents, and children.

Clare Rosser, BSJ

Clare Rosser helps organizations in Northeast Ohio connect with people who provide, fund, or need health and social services. She has more than a decade of experience in public relations, social marketing, and communications for mental health and social service organizations. She is a QPR Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Instructor, helping people recognize and respond with confidence to suicide communications being shared by friends, family members, or even strangers who are in distress. She serves as the Communications and Community Relations Director of the Lorain County Board of Mental Health.

Elizabeth Wolanski, MSEd, LPCC-S

Elizabeth Wolanski is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor who has worked in the field of child and adolescent community mental health for 19 years. She serves as the Child and Adolescent Services Director of the Lorain County Board of Mental Health. Elizabeth has specific training in Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. As a therapist, she has worked with youth ranging in age from 3 to 18 providing services in intensive home-based, school-based, and outpatient programs. She has facilitated prevention groups and skills-based groups on the following topics: anxiety, depression, feeling management, self-esteem, grief and loss, divorce, social and emotional regulation, problem solving, conflict resolution, and communication skills. She has provided mental health education to clergy, church youth groups, school personnel and the general public. She is a trainer in ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) and has been a member of the Lorain County Suicide Prevention Coalition for seven years.